35. Construct a Triangle Given the Angle Opposite Its Base and the Sum and Product of the Two Other Sides

This Demonstration shows how to construct a triangle given the angle opposite the side , the sum of the lengths of the other two sides and their product . The numbers and satisfy the quadratic equation . The problem is solved graphically using Carlyle's circle.

Construction

1. Draw a horizontal line , a point on and a vertical line through . On , draw points and on opposite sides of so that and . On , draw points and on opposite sides of so that and is parallel to . Then .

2. Construct the point on on the same side as at a distance 1 from . Construct the point at a distance from and a distance from . The circle with diameter is the Carlyle circle of the quadratic equation. The circle intersects at the points and . The lengths and are solutions of the quadratic equation.

3. Draw a ray through that forms the angle with . Let be the intersection of the ray and the circle with center and radius .